Speaking to Italian business representatives at the Cernobbio Forum at Lake Como, Zelenskyy said Ukrainians, "want this war to end more than anyone else in the world."
ADVERTISEMENTVolodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukrainians have "no choice to fight and defend our lives" more than two years after Russia invaded the country.
Speaking to Italian business representatives at the Cernobbio Forum at Lake Como, Zelenskyy said Ukrainians, "want this war to end more than anyone else in the world."
"But definitely not through the destruction of their nation, their culture, their cities," he said.
"Our people are under constant threat of Russian missile and drone strikes every night and every day. Putin tries to destroy our state and has consistently done everything to deprive Ukraine of its sovereignty, ruin our economy and force Ukrainians out of Ukraine."
Zelenskyy also slammed Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid, accusing Vladimir Putin of "aiming to plunge Ukraine into darkness".
Zelenskyy again stressed Ukraine's need for long-range weapons from international partners, insisting that Ukraine only wants to use these weapons to strike military airfields inside Russia.
"What we want, how to use this long-distance weapon - just on military airfields. Just to use this weapon, which can work with one hundred and three hundred kilometres. That's all. That's all, no other ideas," he said.
In a post on X after the meeting, Zelenskyy thanked Italy for working with Kyiv to implement the Ukraine Peace Formula, a 10-point proposal to end the war unveiled by Zelenskyy in November 2022.
"Ukraine is not asking for anything more than what your country or any other country already has. We just want no father in our country to have to bury his wife and daughters because they were killed by Russian missiles," he posted.
Zelenskyy is expected to hold talks with Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday.
The demand for faster weapons deliveries to the battlefield was also made earlier on Friday when Zelenskyy met representatives of more than 50 partner nations at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group summit at Germany's Rammstein air base.
At that gathering, he said the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk region had "turned the tables" and requested permission from partners to strike targets deeper inside Russia with the weapons they provide.
"He [Putin] was preparing to launch a new offensive against our city of Sumy, and we have turned the tables and are pushing the war into Russia through our counter-offensive," Zelenskyy said.
He again said Ukraine wants to "end this war" and that peace is the ultimate outcome.
The summit in Germany was convened as Washington announced it would provide another $250 million (€225 million) in security assistance to Kyiv.
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US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin described the current state of play as a dynamic moment in Ukraine's fight against Russia, with Kyiv it conducts its first full-fledged offensive operations of the war on Russian soil while facing a significant threat from Russian forces near a key hub in the Donbas region.
Austin cautioned that While the Kursk incursion has put Russia on the defensive, "we know Putin’s malice runs deep".
Recent deadly airstrikes by Russia have renewed Zelenskyy's calls for the US to further loosen restrictions on the use of its military hardware and thus boost its ability to strike deeper inside Russia.
However, the summit meeting's main focus was expected to be the sourcing of air defence and artillery supplies and shoring up Ukraine's domestic defence industrial base.
ADVERTISEMENTWestern partner nations are working with Ukraine to source a substitute missile for its Soviet-era S-300 air defence systems, Austin said.